I haven't listened to all of The Beach Boys albums (and I doubt I ever will), but I'd like to make a few comments.

-You need to have Kiss Me, Baby on Today!. Great song.-I think Good Vibrations needs to be included somewhere. Sure, maybe it doesn't really FIT on Smiley Smile but it should be there so it isn't neglected. -Darlin' is too good of a track to be left off of Wild Honey. Same for Aren't You Glad.-Where is This Whole World on Sunflower? Or Add Some Music?

I know the whole "top 3" aspect means certain songs can't make the cut (picking 3 favorites from Pet Sounds is nearly impossible for me) but I would have had a few different choices. Not a bad list on the whole, though.

Oh BrianThou Art In Hawthorne,Harmonied Be Thy nameYour Kingdom Come,Your Steak Well Done,On Stage As It Is In Studio,Give Us This Day, Our Shortenin' BreadAnd Forgive Us Our Bootlegs,As We Also Have Forgiven Our Wife And Managers,And Lead Us Not Into Kokomo,But Deliver Us From Mike Love.Amen. ---hypehat

I don't normally do list threads, but I've been thinking about this one since the thread was opened. It's been more difficult than I thought: it was difficult to whittle some albums down to only three tracks ("Today"), whereas with others it was difficult to find three at all! Due to obsessively listening to the Beach Boys in my youth, I find the more, erm, popular material to be damned with overfamiliarity these days. For example, the only track from "Surfin' Safari" I'd really want to listen to is "Cuckoo Clock" (don't laugh), but by sticking to the rule of three tracks, I picked probably the two other most obvious tracks. I've also only just realised that there are only three tracks I ever listen to on "Friends"!

While I own the rest of the catalogue, years can pass before parts of it see a turntable or the inside of a CD player, so I'll stop here with one notable exception:Love You: Good Time, Johnny Carson, Let Us Go On This Way

Good choices for your Umm, Uhhhhh and Ehhhhhhh's. That wasn't so hard, was it? They may not be terrific albums, but there good songs on all of them.

Logged

The Brianista Prayer

Oh BrianThou Art In Hawthorne,Harmonied Be Thy nameYour Kingdom Come,Your Steak Well Done,On Stage As It Is In Studio,Give Us This Day, Our Shortenin' BreadAnd Forgive Us Our Bootlegs,As We Also Have Forgiven Our Wife And Managers,And Lead Us Not Into Kokomo,But Deliver Us From Mike Love.Amen. ---hypehat

"Over the years, I've been accused of not supporting our new music from this era (67-73) and just wanting to play our hits. That's complete b.s......I was also, as the front man, the one promoting these songs onstage and have the scars to show for it."Mike Love autobiography (pg 242-243)

I enjoy seeing what other people like on all their albums instead of just favorites period. I chose three songs because as someone said some albums it was hard for me to pick 3 let alone 5.

I agree with drbeachboy in saying that some albums are pretty bad, but there is at least one song I could listen to from each album. SIP is tough but I think Lahaina Aloha is a great song with great vocals from carl.

You’ll notice there are a few albums from which I had to choose four tracks because I couldn’t stick with three. The albums who have four favorite tracks are my… Four favorite albums. I didn’t even do it on purpose!

Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)1 You're So Good To Me 2 Help Me, Rhonda3 Then I Kissed Her

Beach Boys' Party!1 Tell Me Why2 The Times They Are A-Changin'3 Barbara Ann

Pet Sounds1 God Only Knows, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times2 Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)3 Wouldn't It Be Nice

SMiLE (sorry but IMO, Smiley Smile just takes too much stuff from SMiLE to be considered as an full different album, and since it was meant to be on SMiLE ..)1 Surf's Up, Heroes And Villains, Wonderful & Good Vibrations2 Our Prayer3 Vega-Tables

Wild Honey1 Darlin'2 Wild Honey3 Let The Wind Blow

Friends1 Friends2 Meant For You3 Busy Doin' Nothin'

20/201 Breakaway2 Do It Again3 I Can Hear Music

Sunflower1 Add Some Music To Your Day2 This Whole World3 Forever

Surf's Up (not countin' the song Surf's Up since it's on SMiLE)1 'Til I Die2 A Day In The Life Of A Tree3 Disney Girls (1957)

So Tough (why the "Carl & The Passions"?)1 Here She Comes2 All This Is That3 Cuddle Up

Making that list, it really showed how strong my top three songs from Carl and the Passions "So Tough" are. Cuddle Up is my favorite Dennis song, Marcella is a great 70s Beach Boys rock song and Hold On Dear Brother is one of my favorite 70s country songs period.

Surfin' Safari - Moon Dawg, 409, Surfin' SafariSurfin' USA - Surfin' USA, Let's Go Trippin', StokedSurfer Girl - Surfer Girl, Your Summer Dream, In My RoomLittle Deuce Coupe - Spirit Of America, A Young Man Is Gone, Car Crazy CutieShut Down Volume 2 - Don't Worry Baby, TWOTS, Fun^3All Summer Long - Hushabye, Girls On The Beach, Do You Remember (odd? Yes. Killer backing track? HELL, YES.)Christmas Album - We Three Kings, Auld Lang Syne (hey, it's hap...happenin'!), Santa's BeardBeach Boys Concert - Let's Go Trippin', Graduation Day, Long Tall TexanThe Beach Boys Today! - Good To My Baby; Kiss Me, Baby; Help Me, RondaSummer Days (And Summer Nights!!) - California Girls, Let Him Run Wild, The Girl From New York CityRecorded "live" at a...Beach Boys' Party! - Mountain Of Love, There's No Other (Like My Baby), Tell Me WhyPet Sounds - Caroline, No; Let's Go Away For Awhile; That's Not MeSmiley Smile - Good Vibrations, Heroes and Villains, VegetablesWild Honey - Wild Honey, Darlin', I'd Love Just Once To See YouFriends - Transcendental Meditation (dead serious about that), Passing By, Little BirdLive In London - God Only Knows, Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring, Do It AgainStack-O-Tracks - Catch A Wave, Let Him Run Wild, Wild Honey20/20 - I Can Hear Music, Be With Me, CabinessenceSunflower - Forever; Cool, Cool Water; Got To Know The Woman (THESE were difficult to choose!)Surf's Up - Surf's Up, 'Til I Die, Feel FlowsSo Tough - All This Is That, Cuddle Up, MarcellaHolland - Sail On, Sailor; Only With You; Steamboat (another tough choice)In Concert - Let The Wind Blow, Funky Pretty, Marcella15 Big Ones - Back Home, That Same Song, It's OKThe Beach Boys Love You - Good Time, I'll Bet He's Nice, Roller Skating ChildMIU Album - Won'tha Come Out Tonight, the surface noise at the end of side 1 on the record, and when the stylus accidentally jumps to the label on side 2L.A. - Good Timin', Baby Blue, and the music in my happy place where I go when "Here Comes The Night" playsKeepin' The Summer Alive - Keepin' The Summer Alive, Oh Darling (very underrated, IMHO), Santa Ana WindsThe Beach Boys - It's Getting Late, Getcha Back, It's Just A Matter Of TimeStill Cruisin' - In My Car [good rocker for what it is], Island Girl, Somewhere Near JapanBummer In Paradise - the sound of a sledge hammer smashing the CD, the judge saying "The judgement is for the plaintiff" when I sue the @$$hole who made me pay a dollar for this CD when he should have given me $20,000 to take it off his hands, and anybody reading Andrew Doe's chapter on this album from his bookStars And Stripes Vol. 1 - Caroline, No; Long Tall Texan (it's already country already), and the unused "Sail On, Sailor" with Rodney Crowell

If you're counting solo albums:Pacific Ocean Blue - River Song, Time, RainbowsLooking Back With Love - the crackling fire in my fireplace after I put the album in it, the resulting explosion because there's a gas leak, and the sound of the buzzing of the bulk eraser that wipes out every existing copy of the master.Carl Wilson - Heaven, The Grammy, Youngblood - Young Blood, Rockin' All Over The World, What More Can I Say, and...well, nothing else worth listening. Brian Wilson - Rio Grande, Melt Away, Walkin' The LineI Just Wasn't Made For These Times - Melt Away, Let The Wind Blow, Love and MercyImagination - South American, Happy Days, She Says That She Needs MeLive at the Roxy Theatre - Let's Go Away For Awhile/Pet Sounds, California Girls, The Little Girl I Once KnewPet Sounds Live - Pet Sounds, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, Let's Go Away For AwhileGettin' In Over My Head - Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel, City Blues, Rainbow EyesSmile - Song For Children, Child Is Father Of The Man, Roll Plymouth RockThat Lucky Old Sun - Morning Beat, Midnight's Another Day, Live Let LiveA Postcard From California - Don't Fight The Sea, Tidepool Interlude, Looking Down The CoastBrian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin - I Loves You, Porgy; Summertime; It Ain't Necessarily SoIn The Key Of Disney - Kiss The Girl, Baby Mine, Heigh-Ho